[ebxmlms-develop] hich had seemed to him of no

[Nona S. <neu...@an...>]

 only spot of brightness were the rays of the sun that crept through the
high barred windows and touched his cold face and stiffened form as with
a pitying caress. But no, there was one other little spot of brightness
in the silent place. It was the wild aster which the dead man's hand
still held tightly clasped. The little purple flowers were quite fresh
yet, and the dewdrops clinging to them greeted the kiss of the sun's
rays with an answering smile. CHAPTER II. THE BROKEN WILLOW TWIG As soon
as the corpse had been taken away, the police commissioner returned to
the station. But Muller remained there all alone to make a thorough
examination of the entire vicinity. It was not a very attractive spot,
this particular part of the street. There must have been a nursery there
at one time, for there were still several ordered rows of small trees to
be seen. There were traces of flower cultivation as well, for several
trailing vines and overgrown bushes showed where shrubs had been grown
which do not usually grow without man's assistance. Immediately back of
the old elder tree Muller found several fine examples of rare flowers,
or rather he found the shrubs which his experienced eye recognised as
having once borne these unusual blossoms. One or two blooms still hung
to the bushes and the detective, who was a great lover of flowers,
picked them and put them in his buttonhole. While he did this, his keen
eyes were darting about the place taking in all the details. This vacant
lot had evidently been used as an unlicensed dumping ground for some
time, for all sorts of odds and ends, old boots, bits of stuff, silk and
rags, broken bottles and empty tin cans, lay about between the bushes or
half buried in the earth. What had once been an orderly garden was now
an untidy receptacle for waste. The pedantically neat detective looked
about him in disgust, then suddenly he forgot his displeasure and a
gleam shot up in his eye. It was very little, the thing this man had
seen, this man who saw so much more than others. About ten paces from
where he stood a high wooden fence hemmed in the lot. The fence belonged
to the neighbouring property, as the lot in which he stood was not
protected in any way. To the back it